Giffords getting better

Gabby - A Story of Courage and Hope

The book detailing Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ recovery
after being shot in the head Jan. 8, hit bookshelves Nov. 15. The
book, “Gabby a Story of Courage and Hope,” not only highlights her
progress, but also talks about her life with husband, Mark
Kelly.

Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly

In her own words Monday night, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
said she has to “get better” before she can return to congress.

Giffords, who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head,
has until May 2012 to officially announce whether or not she will
run for reelection.

After 10 months of intensive rehabilitation, Giffords made her
first public appearance with Diane Sawyer on ABCs 20/20.

Alongside husband Mark Kelly, Giffords sat down with Sawyer,
giving one, and two word answers for questions on how difficult it
is to move her right arm, and how sad it is that six people died in
the Jan. 8 shooting.

In the beginning of her recovery, Giffords was not told about
the six victims, which included her aide Gabe Zimmerman, and the
youngest victim, Oro Valley’s Christina-Taylor Green, 9.

After learning about the other victims, Kelly said Giffords
broke down in tears.

Kelly said Giffords wants to eventually meet the families of all
the other victims in the shooting. But, she wants to be able to put
her thoughts and emotions into words before that happens.

Kelly said one of the things he would like to see his wife start
doing is string several sentences together. With two hours of
speech therapy each day, Giffords appears to be defying the
odds.

Viewers were able to see up close how Giffords has defied the
odds because of film clips documenting her progress.

The public got its first glimpse Monday night at how Giffords
has healed over the last 10 months.

From laying still in her hospital bed in Tucson, to breaking
down during a speech therapy session in Texas, America got to see
how determined Giffords is to get better.

The bullet shattered Giffords’ skull, damaging the left side of
her brain. That caused her to lose sight and movement on her right
side. She has also had to learn how to speak and comprehend.

One part of the hour-long segment showed Giffords looking at a
picture of a chair, but saying “spoon.”

Kelly said at first, Giffords was just saying words like spoon
and chicken, and has slowly had to learn how to see a picture and
identify the object correctly.

Much of the learning process has been through song. The videos
show Giffords singing a variety of childhood songs with her mother,
and singing with hospital staff.

The homemade videos also showed Giffords taking her first steps
pushing a shopping cart in the rehabilitation center. Later, videos
showed her walking hand-in-hand with Kelly to check the mail at
their home in Houston.

The couple’s devotion to each other is obvious, as Giffords
describers her husband as “brave,” while Kelly said his wife is
both “brave and tough.”

The couple’s memoir, “Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope” hit
the bookstores Tuesday.

In the end, when it comes to Giffords’ political career, Kelly
said the decision is all hers.

“I will do my best to protect her in whatever she chooses to
do,” he said. “It comes back to what she said. That she’s been
beaten. You never want to feel like you’ve been beaten or taken
out. You can never have too much help.”